T&T U-15s aim to follow U-17s’ lead

published by ikhan on Tue, 07/09/2013 - 06:17

Trinidad Express article.

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD - The Trinidad and Tobago Under-15 squad will be looking to mirror the success of the T&T Under-17s as they leave for Jamaica today for the West Indies Cricket Board Under-15 competition which bowls off on Friday.

“The Under-17s won their tournament in Tobago on Sunday and we want to win ours as well,” declared T&T Under-15 coach Glen Dwarika yesterday.

“We are indeed ready. The time was short but we made use of what we had. I must compliment the trainers on a job well done because there we no injuries during our buildup and the players are very motivated to do well.

“They are well prepared. Once they stick to the game plan, they should be able to come out on top.”

T&T have not won the Under-15 championships since 2010 when the T&T Cricket Board hosted the competition. Jamaica won the title in 2011 in a rain affected tournament in T&T with the hosts coming in second while Barbados won it last year with T&T placing third.

This year, the coach says he has a “balanced” team and he thinks that could make the difference in the end.

“Like the Under-17s, we don’t have any stars heading into the tournament. We are banking on the fighting spirit of the guys and teamwork to come out on top.

“We have Amrit Kistow, Joel Sutherland and Nathaniel McDavid to spearhead the fast bowling, while Emillo Gopaul, Aaron Mairam, the skipper Kirstan Kallicharan and vice-captain Saiba Batoosingh leading the spin department. We have a good balance,” Dwarika added.

He also noted that while T&T had the leading wicket-taker in last year’s competition--left-arm spinner Bryan Boodram who got 25 wickets--they did not gain enough fast-bowling bonus points, which is an area they are looking to strengthen up on for 2013.

Teams will get bonus points for every wicket taken by a fast bowler and the fast bowlers must bowl 30 per cent of the overs in the two-day game.

T&T open their campaign against the Windward Islands at Treasure Beach on Friday and Saturday.